A Clemson statement said that the University of Texas-Dallas, which compiled the rankings, is “widely acknowledged as the most prestigious ranking of business scholarship because it only considers a narrow set of premium journals, which ranks business faculty exclusively on research productivity.” Clemson’s Management Information Systems was also ranked 13th internationally on publishing in elite information systems journals from 2013 to 2016.

According to Clemson, four faculty members — Varun Grover, Heshan Sun, Jason Thatcher and Phil Roth — and three recent graduates of the management information systems doctoral program — Jennifer Gerow, Michael Dinger and Michele Carter — contributed to the nine publications that led to the ranking.

“This ranking by a highly regarded source is yet another recognition of the strength and quality of the Management Information Systems program at Clemson,” said Sri Sridharan, head of the management department, in a statement. “The fact that doctoral students contributed to a third of the publications attests to the rigor of our program and engagement of our information systems faculty.

“Credit the caliber of our faculty that our information systems research productivity is ranked among the best in the U.S. We are fortunate to have Dr. Grover leading this distinguished group of researchers.”